There are only two places an NFL season can end and in the span of two years the Broncos have experienced both. There’s the White House, reserved for the Super Bowl champions and the best of the best.

And then there’s the dungeon, this according to Broncos safety T.J. Ward.

While the Patriots paid a visit to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Wednesday in honor of their Super Bowl LI victory, Ward stood at the front of the Broncos’ media room with a brow dotted with sweat, fresh from another day of organized team activities.

With a new coaching staff, a new offense and a defense — they hope — that will reach a higher level, the Broncos are back at work with an unsatiated hunger. Few on the team seem to have felt those pangs more than the secondary and its veteran safeties Ward and Darian Stewart. And it’s their leadership, both spoken and shown, that is key toward guiding the Broncos on a path back to playoff contention.

“It’s an engaged group,” first year head coach Vance Joseph said. “You watch every game and those guys are ready to roll. It comes from the safeties. It comes from T.J. and Stewart. Those guys are on every day. To be a great secondary in this league you’ve got to be on every day.”

The No Fly Zone is among the few constants on a team of change. Last year, Denver led the league in passing defense for the second consecutive season and, according to Football Outsiders, ranked first in defending opponents’ top two receivers, ranked second against opponents’ other receivers and finished fourth against opposing tight ends.

The secondary’s numbers didn’t dwindle when many others for the Broncos did. They actually improved.

The secondary’s numbers actually improved from the Super Bowl season while other areas of the defense dipped.

Joe Amon, The Denver Post

With an assist from fellow safety Darian Stewart (26), Denver’s T.J. Ward (43) forces a fumble by Atlanta receiver <a href="http://stats.denverpost.com/football/nfl-players.aspx?page=/data/nfl/players/player41798.html">Mohamed Sanu</a> in a game last October.

But missing were the most important marks for any team: the playoffs and a shot at more bling.

The defense, Joseph said, will still be founded on Phillips’ teachings and his 3-4 base scheme, but with a few extra bells and a couple more whistles. A bit of surprise, a lot of swag and great expectations.

Ward and Stewart, two players rarely in need of extra motivation, have plenty this year. Although Stewart’s contract was extended four years last November, the personal elation was met with collective disappointment a month later when the Broncos failed to make the playoffs.

“Playoffs are expected of this group,” Stewart said. “Missing it last year hurt.”

Ward — coming off one of his finest NFL seasons with 87 tackles, a sack, eight pass-breakups, an interception, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries — is in the final season of the four-year contract he signed in 2014.

“I’m definitely aware of it,” he said with a smile. “If I do what I have to do and do it the right way, it’ll handle itself.”

Preparation started almost immediately after Ward watched his younger brother, Terron, make it to the Super Bowl with the Falcons and then fall to the Patriots in a historic thriller. The high of returning to the big game, even as a spectator, was met with a low, similar to the Broncos’ year-over-year swing.

“As soon as the Super Bowl was over I started working out, trying to make this season a lot better than last year because not going to the playoffs, it hurt after winning the Super Bowl,” Ward said. “I know everybody on this team came back ready for that not to happen again.”

The Broncos’ secondary has the advantages of time and chemistry, rarities in the revolving door of the NFL. The veteran four in Ward, Stewart and cornerbacks Chris Harris and Aqib Talib, know how each other operates. They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They know what worked in 2015, what didn’t in 2016 and what needs to work in 2017.

“Leading (in pass defense) again and winning another Super Bowl,” Ward said flatly.

Because if they don’t, they know where it will end.

“The dungeon,” Ward said. “Until we make it to the White House, I’ll be in the dungeon. … I would definitely rather be at the White House.”

Nicki Jhabvala is the lead Broncos and NFL beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving at The Post in 2014, she spent nearly two years as a senior staff editor at The New York Times and five years at Sports Illustrated.

Broncos general manager John Elway was reminded of the nice weather, of the fun memories he had some 13 miles west in Palo Alto in college and of course the ones he experienced here in Santa Clara back in 2016.